Moving beyond Paralyzing Fear
November 16th, 2008Matthew 25:14-20
Presented November 16, 2008, by J.D. Kline
The 27th Sunday after Pentecost
Each of us, I suspect, has a list of scripture texts we find disturbing—passages that somehow seem out of place, seemingly inconsistent with the primary themes and character of scripture. One of those troubling texts is found near the end of this morning’s Gospel lesson, a text which reads, “To all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25:29). Allowed to stand alone, the text seems to provide blessing for the worst abuses of the capitalist system—a heartless grasping after ever-increasing possessions, and justification for the ever-spiraling gap between the rich and the poor. What is the intent of this passage of Scripture, and why would it be included by those who had heard Jesus speak so convincingly of the call to live simply and to share generously?
The verse is found near the end of a section commonly labeled the parable of the talents, a story of a landowner who entrusts his property to three of his slaves. In his commentary Matthew for Everyone biblical scholar Tom Wright reminds us that such a story of a master who, after entrusting tasks to his slaves, comes back at last, “would certainly be understood, in the Judaism of Jesus’ day, as a story about God and Israel.” And if that is true, Jesus speaks the story as words of challenge to the people of his day, and our question becomes, What is the nature of that challenge?
Matthew’s Gospel, you may recall, includes five major blocks of Jesus’ teachings, and this parable falls near the end of the fifth section—a section that begins, in chapter 23, with Jesus lambasting the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus is criticizing those religious leaders of the day because they seemingly have lost their way, placing far more focus upon matters of outward appearances than upon the heart of the law, which is justice and compassion and right living. In the parable of the talents, Jesus is asserting that the scribes and Pharisees are like the third servant who has been given a wonderful gift but chooses to bury that gift in the ground. Indeed, the scribes and Pharisees serve as representatives of the entire people of Israel, who have, Jesus asserts, become content with holding God’s love—God’s precious gift—to themselves, rather than embracing their calling to live as light to all the nations.